Then there was Jason Derulo's irresistible but horrid-when-you-actually-think-about-it Talk Dirty. Oh, and let's not forget Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines.
Most recently, as I despaired over the battered woman vibe in Ariana Grande's One Last Time, two new songs on the pop hits station (or whatever you call what Ryan Seacrest is on) blew my mind.
OMI - Cheerleader
Andy Grammer - Honey I'm Good
Given how tuned into popular culture I am, I'm probably the last person around to have found these songs. Nevertheless, I think they are deceptively revolutionary. With catchy, fun music, both songs deliver messages we don't often hear on the radio.
How often have we heard the equivalent of "Baby baby [insert phrase to indicate interest in sex]" or "baby baby I'm so in love with you", but actually this song is about me? Instead of these overused but still too common themes, both songs say "Thanks but no thanks, I already have an amazing person in my life." The singers (both male) are saying, it's not about me, its about my amazing partner. Sitting in my car, I couldn't believe it as these songs came across the radio.
And the music videos! Couples of all shapes, sizes, ages, locations, relationship types, and relationship lengths are demonstrating their pride and joy at being together! Maybe there is such a thing as progress.
I was pretty ambivalent about Cheerleader. Is the only reason why he's with her, because she does stuff for him? But I think the music video is an improvement, he's only singing to one girl and she seems like she's also having a good time just dancing with him . . . It also made me think, how unlikely it would be for a woman to sing this songs about a man, and that made me sad. But maybe there is one out there?
ReplyDeleteI agree on Cheerleader, although it is so much more positive than most of what I've been hearing recently, that I'm willing to settle for now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, at the same time I was thinking: but it is pretty awesome to have a supportive partner and he should be allowed to sing about it.
DeleteI'm definitely an Andy Grammar fan. I do think his video is revolutionary (interracial couples whaaa), but Cheerleader is a little less so.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if this is the best offered by the world today... I'm a little underwhelmed. :(
Not sure if Tunde Olaniran would count as pop music, but I found his video and the article explaining his song really fascinating. Here's a cool piece:
ReplyDelete“KYBM” stands for Keep Your Body Moving. Olaniran told me over the phone that the song—which has gone through about eight different versions, he said, since he wrote it just after finishing 2014’s Yung Archetype EP—is about Detroit, and Flint, and “how you mobilize people, what that looks like, what it feels like. What it feels like to mobilize people in a way that doesn’t reinforce oppressive structures.”
http://themuse.jezebel.com/heres-kybm-a-gritty-grooving-introduction-to-your-new-1726595834